My Birthday Celebration

We celebrated my birthday with the family on Saturday and had a great day. I got to pick all my meals and I actually cooked quite a bit of it on Friday which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a wonderful day spent with those that I love the most, doing the activities of my choice. We played a few rounds of Bingo after lunch which Emma enjoys playing with us and then Jason helped me update the look of my blog a little. Hope you all like the new look. I took my grandchildren to the park while dinner prep was being finished up and we had a great time playing on the swings and the slides. We ended the evening playing Outburst because I love word games. We all decided I needed to buy a newer version since the one I have came out in 1988 and the kids had no idea what some of the questions were about.

My gifts were definitely food related this year, which is perfect for me. I got an ice cream maker, so be watching for my first post about homemade ice cream. I also got a Foodsaver machine (vacuum seals food for refrigeration or freezing, which should be perfect for all my extra loaves of bread).

Here is the menu for the day with everything homemade of course.

Breakfast
Fruit Platter with fresh pineapple and strawberries
Sour Cream Coffee Cake (Barefoot Contessa Parties Cookbook)

Lunch
Corn Chowder (Tyler Florence)
Sourdough Bread, Honey Oatmeal Bread, Rye Bread
Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars (Annie's Eats)

Dinner
Salmon Mousse with an assortment of Crackers (Mousse from Annie's Eats, crackers store-bought)
Braised Short Ribs (Cuisine at Home, October 2011 Issue)
Creamy Mashed Potatoes (Pioneer Woman Cooks)
Oven Roasted Carrots (Barefoot Contessa)
Creme Anglaise with Paline Crunch (Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking)


Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties
Sour Cream coffee Cake (Serves 8-10)
















12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Streusel
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

For the Glaze
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts if desired.

If using a tube pan, spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. If using a bundt pan, sprinkle 1/4 cup of the streusel mixture in bottom of pan, then spoon in half of the batter. Sprinkle on remainder of streusel and top with remaining cake batter. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel-side-up onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or a spoon.


My rating for this Coffee Cake: